Bath-tub fitting.



Patented Sept. 19, 1911 2 BIIBETSSEBBT L J. M. MGDONALD.

BATH TUB FITTING.

APPLIUATIUN FILED rmm, 1911.

J. M. MDONALD.

BATH TUB FITTING.

APPLATON FILED BllU, 1911. l',OSWWLl t Patented Sept. 19, 1911.

2 BHBETB-SHEET Z.

ENVENTOR UNITED STATES IUXTENT OFFICE.

JOHN HODONALD, OF DUBUQUE, IQWA, ASSIGNOR T THE A. Y. MUDONALD MFG. CO.

A COPABTNERSHIP.

Barnum; FITTING 4 To all whom 'it may concern:

tin'gsz of which the following is a specifi-ca on account of the soldered Aor `weide nection which has a tendency to become4 roughing-in tion., i

This invention relates to a Apipe fitting for bath tubs intended" for connecting the socalled roughing-in pipingl, whichtcrminatesslightly aboveithe door vel 'directlyI4 with the Water cock inside of the bath tub. @At the present time, most forms of bath tub fitting for this purpose com )rise two rtions, namely, the s ud, Whic extends rom the cock through t e wall of the tub to 'a point just outside of the same, anda pipe extending from the pfloor up to and connecting with this Spud. I am,hovvever, aware of certain forms of fitting in `Which these two portions are soldere gether, so that for certain pur oses,r they comprise a single' fitting, althougli p not e considered 'such from all stand oints conloose and to leak and which ,on account of the inherent character of the joint may not be tight. in the first instance, and lwhich cannot have a strength egualto that of a single pipe. fitting made 1n a single piece.

It Will'be understood that the present fititing comprises a single piece of p1 roughing-in connection at the. floor level up to and through the wall ofthe tub to the cock inside of the same. This fitting then must be pro erly designed and formed to make the iping at its lower end. It must be furt errnore properly formed at its upper end to make the necessary connection with the water cock and, itmust be properly formed or associated with other parts to secure the necessary connection with the Wall of the tub Where it passes through the same.

In order to'forin the necessary connection with the Wall of the tub, it is customary to provide a pair of oppositely disposed nuts or the like,l which in all constructions with which I am familiar, thread directly on the pipe to gripthe bath tub Wall between them. This arrangement is open to a nntp-- Specification of Letters Patent. Application tiled February 10, 191,1. Serial Ito/607,777.

or Weidedtoy they cani e5 or the like, which extends all the 'Way rom theecessary connection with thel Patented Sept. 19, 1911.

aber of objections, among which are the tol- :lowing': In the first placeLthe Spud portion 'of the pipe is weakenedu by threading it, because a certainv amount of its metal is thus cut away; in the next place, it is necessary 'to provide a-suilicient length of thread to secure a certain `amount of horizontal ad justrnent of the Spud portion with respect to the wall of the tub. This adjustment is nc'eary ,by reason of the fact that the bath tub isset at a fixed position with re spect to the terminal of the roughing-in piping, so that When the fittings arc carried up and through the Wall of the tub,`

they must occupy a certain position with respect to the same. In canse the tub is shifted backward or'forvvard--a small amount., thc s ud ortion will mover back and forth tirou the ,tvall a corresponding amount and t e nuts mustthen be threaded back and forth correspondingly. Consequently, -the thread on the spud portion iust be long enough to permit of this adjustment and ver often a certain'portion of this thread is eft uncovered on the inside of the tub. Thiscreates an un'si htl appearance, and often `a, eat deal la r and trouble is expen'de in Setting the tub and connecting it u to try and bring the cplarts into ropervrelation, so that this threa will not e exposed, although it is not always possible to The ordinary Water cock fittingA which is.

attached to the spud portion of the pipe litting is provided with a F ullexl ball valve, the ball of which wor'ks back and forth b turning the handle of the cock.` This ba l ordinarily projects fromthe back end -of the cock tting so that space must be rovidedV in the Spud portion of the pi e tting to 4accommodate the same and sai space must bev so laigethat it will not be obstructed b of water.

*igt the spu" vent a proper tipt the cxtreme inside end portion should be provided Witha-fiange for accomthe Fuller ball a sufficient amount `tovapu" l .A

Futhermore,

facilitate its manufacture. i

the dpipe litting must be so formed that its tit passes fectly vertical inside of the tub, regardless On account o combination o'f modating the necessary nut which threads onto the water cock to secure the proper connection between the same and the Spud )ortion of the pipe Iittin f. bath tub is ordinarily given a certain amount of pitch outwardly and uwardly, both, 'to improve the appearance o the tub 'and to Consequently,

spu portion will pass squarely through the same, in order to permit the nuts or the like to set squarel against the wall of the tub. this pitch of the Spud portion., the water cocks pitch forwardly a certain amount instead of occupying a. perfectly vertical position. This pitch has certain objections and it is desirable to be able to bring the spout\and the ring-cup vertical.

Objectsfof ,the present invention i are to providesJ .pipe fitting of the class described, which can lie made from a single piece of pipe suitably bent to accomplish its necessary function; to so form this pipe as to rovidelthe necessary clearance for the Fuller valvefof the'w'ate'r cock; to provide a new and improved means for securing ,the necessary connection between the spud portion of the fitting and thewall of the tub, where through the sam'e; to accomplish the forementioned connection Without in any way weakening the spud' portion of the pipe, and in fact, stren rthening thesame and providing it with` ad itipnal stiifnessand rigidity; to provide means for instantaneously securing the necessary lateral adjustment of said s ud portion in the wall of the tub; to provid; a connection of such form that no thread will ever be exposed'on Athe inside o-f the tub, .no matter how farY in or out the spud portion may be adjusted; to provide a connection at this point such tlat the i e fitting proper will be in no wise injured" 'y injury to the threads of the connection by providing a lthread/ed portion 'which may be placedfone1 the pipe or taken away from the saine instantaneously for renewal or replacement; to provide a pipe fitting of such form that if desired the water cock may stand perof the pitch of the end wall of the same.; and in other ways 'and manners to generally improve the :form and 'construction of such pipe fittings.

I er objects and uses will appear `from a detailed description of the invention which consists in the features of construction and parts hereinafter.' described and claimed. A In tige drawings, Figure 1 shows a perspectiv View V,of theback portion of a tub provided with' myI improved pipe fittings; ig. 2 shows a cross sectional view o f a portion of the back of the tu improved' form ofiittin, a 'portion of the vertical leg of the same' eing @roken away The end. 'wall the I provided with my' for convenience, and the connection between the pipe fitting and the roughing-in piping being 1n section; Fi 3 shows a cross section of the end wall of the tub showing the rela-- tion of my pipe fittings to the same; Fig. .4

1s a vertical cross section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3 showing the parts somewhat in detail and showing particularly the manner of forming the connectionhetween the 'fitting and the end wall of the tub and the manner in which I form the end of the littin to permit the water cocks to stand vertica Fig. 5 shows o detailed side view of the threaded split sleeve; Fig. 6 shows a cross section of the split sleeve on the line (3-6 of Fig. 5 looking in the direction of the arrows; and Fi 7 shows a. somewhat enlarged detail o sleeve connection, specially adapted for securing an unusually tight grip on the pipe at the point where the sume passes through the end Wall of the tub.

In the embodiment of my invention, I provide a pipe fitting' of suitable formation to extend, when desired, all the Way from the roughing-in connection near the floor level to the Water cock itself inside of the tub. When necessary, but not otherwise, the inner end of this fittliigis swelled out a certain amount to provide any necessary clem`- ance for the valve. In order to make the necessary' connection with the wall of the tub` Where the fitting passes through the same, I provide a split sleeve, and thread the ame on its outer surface. I then thread the nuts4 which press against the faces of the wall onto this sleeve, instead of onto the pipe propel'. In order to permit the nuts which claanpthe wall of the tub to rest flat against tlrie faces of the sume I tilt the Spud portion upwardly Iso that it passes through the wall-nt right angles I in order'to permitthe Water cock to stand perfctly vertical when desired, I bend the inner end of the fitting down a slight nmount,-so that notwithstanding the fact it may 'be tilted to exactly right angles to the tub Wall at the lpoint Where it passes through the same, sti l it will be horizontal at the point where the cock is attached, thus permitting the latter to stand vertical.

Referrin now to the drawings, 'the fittings. 8 am? floorV level at 1() up to und through the wall 11 of the tub to make connection with the cock 12. Each of these fittings comprises a Vertical portion 13, bent over at ri ht angles in its portion. 14, and then inwurgly turned in its portion 15, where it passes through the wall of the tub,

The customary connection to the rou hing-in piping is made vin the Aforni o? a slp joint. This is illustrated'particularly in Fig.2.' Th 'end of the rougliin n modiied form voi split 9 extend from a polnt near the' fro ioo

to the same Then,

'of water when open.

terior to receive a cap nut 17, which compresses a gasket 18 against the end portion 19 of the fitting. When necessary, the latter is contracted sufficiently to permit it to slide up and down inthe end of the roughing-in` piping. h

te erring articularly to Fig. 4, it 1s seen that the spu `ortion of the fitting is of` substantially tie same diameter as the rest of the pipe. At its inner end 20, however, it is swelled out suiiiciently,when necessary,to provide space for a Fuller ball 21 of the cock so that the latter will not obstruct the flow A flange 22 is provided von the extreme end of the fitting, by means of which the necessary connection is established with the cock through the medium of a cap nut 23. A gasket Q4 serves to establish a Water tight connection.'`

Obviously, the exact angle at which the i cock will stand withV respect to the wall 11 of the tub ivill depend upon the tiltgiven to theporton 20 'ofthefitting. 'Of course, when desined,'tl1isf lportion may continue straight oution the Spud portion.V However, I have found fthatpit/ is possible and dsir! able, in many/ways'to expand the er1/dof the pipe, andjform thefiiange' 22vthereon by means of dies. such afprocess'is used, it vis a very simple ,matter to adjust the dies 1nl suche way esito bend the plpe, or form the portion 20st thenecessagy langle.

' f Afhle -25 in the It is customary to provide wall ofthe tub of considerably." reater size v facture of fittings,v I makeuse than that .necessary to-acrnmo ate/ a pipe of the ordinary/diameterused/insges manuthis fact to great advantage in the construction which I have devised for establishing a firm connection between the spud and the wall of the tub. I provide a, s lit sleeve 26, the halves of which may be a jnsted on the Spud, even after the fitting has been'set onto the tub. This split sleeve is preferably grooved at 27 t0 receive a sprin cla-mp 28 which assists in holding the two-alves together, while the nuts are being threaded onto them. the nuts v29 and 30, which thread onto the split sleeves,

serve to grip the end wall of the tub between them. It is found that, when they have been 4tightened up onto a split sleeve of the type shown in ll`igs. 4 and 5, a considerable :friction will existbetween the same and the spud portion'l of the fitting. Under ordinary circumstances, s lit sleeves clamped against the spud pon tions of the two fittings 8 and 9 by the nuts, 29 and 30 is sufficient to' hold the cock firmly' in position. y-It is obvious that, in order to secure the necessary preliminary adjustment of `the lfittings back and forth in the end wall of the tub,'the split sleeves need only he moved longitudinally, of the fittings, the necessary amount. This may even be done aiter the nuts 29. and -250 are threaded onto IWhere 4iit passes through the Furthermore, it is not necessaryto provideV the `combined frictionof the,"

the sleeves, but before they are tightened. I take advantage of this adjustment feature of the split sleeve in another way. That is, I provi e a iiange 32f'o'1i the inner end of the nut 29 so as to completely hide the split sleeve, thereby always presenting a clean and pl easing appearance on the exposed portion ofthe fitting and -associated parts. As before stated, this cannot be done when the thread is formed directly on the pipe. Ordinarily, it would beeustomary to thread the "nut 29 up as far as possible on the split sleeve` and then secure the clamping eiect by tightening thenut 30.

In case it is ydesired to secure an unusually tight grip on the Spud portion of the fitting, this can be accomplished by tapering the thread 33 on one end of the split sleeve, as shown in Fig. 7. Then when the nut 30 is tightened 1ip, the split sleeve will be clamped down a ainst the fitting.

i1 desire particularly to emphasize the advantage's which accrue from the use ofthe split sleeve construction 1n the present ease.

the pipe is not weakened by having some of its metal cut away in the threading process, but, on the contrary, it is strengthened andremforoed at the point wall of the tub.

In the iirst place,

a long thread in orderv -to secure the necessary 'in and out adjustment, such as is the ease when the thread is formed on the pipe.

Also and for the same reason, no thread is left exposed onthe inside of the tub, and a much,

more pleasing ap enfance results. In case of injury to the t read of av split sleeve, the latter may be removed and another one inserted,',while if the thread was formed directly on the pi e, the entire fittin would be rendered wort iless. The cost4 of orming the threads isalso considerably reduced, by reason of the fact that the lSpud portion is difficult of access for the threading operation. i

-I also wish it to .be that, by forming the thread on a split sleeve instead of on t-he pipe proper,\1 am enabler, to make the fitting from a single iece of pipe without any connections 1n tie same whatsoever, either -welded or 4soldered. This, 'I am enabled to do, because of the fact that it is not necessary to form the spud portion separatejfrom the vertical portion of the fitting, in order to carry on the threadin' operation.

It wil? be understoodthat, in an struction in which the threads are ormed directly onthe spud portion of the fitting, the same must be of greater diameter th n the remainder of the fitting, because tie threads must, of necessity, extend out far enough to engage with the threads of a nut which can be sll ped over the remain-der of the fitting. This being the case, the Spud conf' 

